Day 958 | Science Crafting

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Science + crafting...oh, yes! They definitely go together. I'm hoping this can be a new trend in our schedule. Thanks to Grandma Bibi, we have a new book (The Usborne Big Book of Science Things to Make and Do) to guide us through all kinds of fun science crafts. I'm not exaggerating to say that I'm beyond impressed with this book. So many fun + easy activities...so little time. 

Today's project?

Floating Ball Game

Materials needed:

  • cardstock-weight paper
  • tape
  • scissors
  • bendy straws
  • poster putty or clay
  • a large coffee mug (or other circular item to trace)
  • aluminum foil

Directions

  1. Trace a circle onto the cardstock using the mug.
  2. Cut out the circle and pass decorate as desired.
  3. Make a cut into the middle, then bend the sides around to make a cone. Tape the edges.
  4. Cut a small piece off the point of the cone (to make a hole for the straw).
  5. Push the short end of the bendy straw into the hole.
  6. Press the poster putty around the end of the straw. Then, slide the straw down until the poster putty is resting in the bottom of the cone (see bottom-left photo above).
  7. Create a ball using the aluminum foil that is about the size of a cherry. Put the ball in the cone. Bend the end of the straw and blow through it.

Our boys were less interested in the levitating ball idea and were more interested in seeing how far they could launch those little silver balls. It was pretty fun, I have to say. What did they learn, you might ask? Here's the blurb from the book to describe the science-y part of the craft:

High Pressure
When you blow through the straw, a jet of air whooshes up under the foil ball. This high pressure jet sends the ball up into the air. As the air flows up the sides of the cone, it spreads out and loses pressure. The foil ball bounces about as it hits the high and low air pressures above the cone.

That's what you were thinking, right? Yeah, me too. Stay tuned for more science crafts in the future. I hope you're just as excited as we are!

Day 954 | Kid-Free 24 Hours

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Wondering why I missed yesterday's post? Chris and I were busy enjoying...wait for it...a kid-free 24 hours. Yep. I'm not kidding. 

Chris had his company holiday party (super fun, by the way), so the boys stayed with my parents. Thanks again, mom and dad! The boys had a blast (no surprise), and so did we (also, no surprise). 

What did we do with our kid-free time? We stayed up late, we stayed in bed until 9am (whoop whoop!), we went for a leisurely breakfast, we ran a couple of errands (we needed to be a *bit* productive, after all), and we went to a movie! We did miss the wee ones, though, and it was so good to see them and collect some extra snuggle time once we reunited.

We could get used this...

Day 953 | When Moms Try to Take Photos

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Here I am with my sisters-in-law (on Chris's side). Seems like an easy enough photo to capture, right? Not so much. It turns out as soon as you try to *not* include the kids in something, that's when they're most interested. There were several attempts that led to less-than-ideal photos like the bottom one...oh, and there was a screaming toddler in the background that you can't see. And also a crazy laughing fit, that also happened.  Finally some grandparents + fathers stepped in and we managed a solo shot. Motherhood is hard. 

Day 951 | Ice Skating

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We took the boys for their inaugural ice skating lesson this morning. Chase is sold. Robbe is not. I'm not sure he actually ended up putting all his weight on either of the skates at any point. Maybe next time we'll get him skates that actually fit. That might help. 

Regardless, we had a lot of fun and hope to make it back to the rink when the new cold snap subsides. And when Chris has skates to show us all his fancy moves.

Day 950 | Christmas Gift Crafts

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Now that all the gifts have been given, I've got some Christmas crafts to unveil.

  1. Star tree ornaments: I made a bunch of these origami stars as ornaments this year. They were super fun + fast to create. Here's the tutorial for anyone interested. I made small versions of the stars using 6"x6" pieces of paper.
  2. Soy, linen-scented candles: Using the same tutorial as I've used in the past, my mom and i made these super cute candles to give away. Such an easy + useful gift! Oh, and I labeled them as "small gift, BIG LOVE" to match my new blog.
  3. Initial jars: I spray painted giant mason jars and then modge-poged my nieces' initials (using lace from my mom's wedding dress) on them. I added a braided yard and button accent tie. They were a big hit...but that might have had to do with the cash gift we included inside. Maybe. 
  4. A Sayde-inspired onesie: I used this freezer paper screen print technique to make a one-of-a-kind Sayde onesie for my favorite 4 month old. I've been holding onto this adorable onesie for well over a year waiting to give this to Mae. Who's Sayde? You might ask. This is Sayde.

'Tis the season for excess crafting! I hope I can funnel a little of this motivation and keep crafting now that it's the new year. I'll keep you posted.

Day 949 | A Year in Photos

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Happy 2017, family + friends! We've enjoyed a week of high-quality socializing in addition to some serious play time with all our new gear. 

We're feeling hopeful and enthusiastic about the year ahead and are looking forward to seeing how 2017 could possibly be any better than 2016. 

To celebrate the greatness that was 2016, I've decided to do a top-15 (10 was just too hard to narrow down) of my favorite photos from this past year. Not my favorite posts...my favorite photos. I was inspired to do this after I took the above photo of Robbe yesterday at our New Year's party (he's playing the game Pie Face). The photo brought me such joy that I realized a reflection post was necessary to highlight some of the other images that I felt a special connection to over the past year. You can click on each photo to be directed to it's original post. Enjoy!